Closure for a rail sanding apparatus



Feb 9, 1955 A. G. DEAN Erm.

CLOSURE FOR RAIL SANDING APPARATUS Filed July 25. 1962 INVENTORS ALBERTG. DEAN HERBERT T-HERMANN A TTORNE Y United States Patent fice lbPatented Feb. 9, 1965 3,163,960 CLSURE FOR A. RAL SANDlNG APPARATUSAlbert G. Dean, Narberth, and Herbert T. Hermann, Southampton, Pa.,assignors to The Budd Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed .l'uly 25, 1962, Ser. No. 212,311 Claims. (Ci. 22h-32) This invention relates to sanding apparatus for sanding the railunder a wheel of a railway vehicle, for the purpose of increasing thecoelcient of friction between the Wheel and the rail.

In general, rail sanding apparatus comprises a sandbox which contains asupply of the sand that is to be deposited on the rail, a nozzle fordirecting the sand beneath the wheel, and means, such as a pneumatic airvalve and control system therefor, for selectively causing sand to flowfrom the sandbox, through the nozzle and onto the rail beneath thewheel.

In order for the sand to fiow properly, it must be kept in a relativelydry condition. However, this is difficult to accomplish because thesandbox is normally exposed to weather elements such as rain, snow, hailand the like whereby such elements can enter the sandbox and contaminatethe sand so that it is no longer readily lowable.

Heretofore, it has been customary to lill the sandbox through an openingthat is covered by a screw-type cover having threads which, because ofthe abrasive action of the sand, are subject to galling anddeterioration to the extent that weather elements can enter the sandboxeven though the cover is in place.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the invention is to provide improvedsanding apparatus which can be readily iilled but which prevents weatherelements from entering the sandbox.

Another object is to provide an improved cover and cover actuatingmechanism for a sandbox.

Still another object is to provide improved sanding apparatus wherein acover is permanently mounted on the sandbox so that the cover cannot belost readily.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. l is a side elevational view of a portion of a railway vehicleembodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, of a sandbox, illustrated in FIG, 1,embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4 `of FIG. 3, FIGS. 2, 3 and 4being on enlarged scales relative to that of FIG. l, for clarity ofillustration.

Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a portionof a railway vehicle which portion comprises a car body supported by atruck 12 having a plurality of wheels 14 engaged with the upper surface16 of a rail. The railway vehicle carries sanding apparatus for sandingone of the rails beneath and ahead of one of wheels 14, such sandingapparatus comprising a sandbox assembly 18 adapted to store a quantityof sand, a nozzle 20 for directing the sand beneath the wheel, aselectively actuatable pneumatic valve 22, and a hose 24 extendingbetween the valve and the nozzle.

As shown in FIGS. l and 3, the sandbox assembly 18 is supported by apair of rear angle brackets 26 and a pair of front brackets 255 beneaththe bottom of the car body and inboard of the side sill 30, the frontbracket being welded to a Z support 32. Brackets 26 and 28 are securedby bolt and lock nut assemblies 33 so that the sandbox assembly dependsfrom the railway vehicle body in front of the wheel to be sanded.

Sandbox assembly18 comprises a sandbox 34, a cover 36, a cover retainingspring 38, and a throwover lever 40. Sandbox 34 includes a bottom plate42 having an outlet 44 aligned with the inlet 46 of valve 22, therebeing a screen 48 extending across and above outlet 44. Sandbox 34 alsoincludes a plurality of panels 50 arranged as shown in the drawing toprovide an enclosed chamber for storing the sand that is to be depositedupon the rail. The upper front one of panels Si) is provided with acentrally located opening 52.

Sandbox 34 further includes a pair of mounting flanges 54, and aninverted, frusto-conical funnel 56 secured to panel 50 over opening 52,the axis of the funnel passing through the center of the opening. Funnel56 is Wide at its base and narrow at its top, the top terminating in acircular, annular edge which defines or bounds a circular ll openingthrough which sand passes as it is being poured into the sandbox.

Cover 36 comprises a circular body SS and a pair of concentric, axiallyextending flanges 6i) and 62 spaced apart to define an annular groovewithin which is secured an annular gasket 64 of a resilient, sealingmaterial, such as rubber. The groove formed by ilanges 60 and 62 openstowards the edge of funnel 56. When cover 36 is closed, the edge of thefunnel abuts gasket 64, whereby flanges 6i) and 62 lie on either side ofthe edge. Flange 62, which is the outer flange, is slightly longer thanflange 60 and extends downwardly over the upper edge of funnel 56?* whenthe cover is closed, to prevent weather elements from directly hittingthe gasket and the edge. j

Cover 36 has a lug 66 at one side which supports a pivot pin 68 disposedin a pair of slots 70 of a mounting bracket 72 secured to funnel 56adjacent the lower `portion of the upper edge thereof. Mounting bracket72 includes a pair of flanges '74 within each of which one of slots 72is formed, the flanges straddling lug'66. This mounting allows the coverto be `moved between an open position, indicated by the dotted lines inFIG. 3, to a closed position as shown in full lines in FIG. 3 and inFIGS. 2 and 4, wherein the cover extends across the open end of funnel56.

Lever 4t) is pivotally mounted on the central outer portion of cover 36by means of a pivot pin 76 supported by a pair of spaced lugs 7Sintegral with cover 36. Pivot pin '76 passes through one end of leverdell, the other end of lever 40 being in the form of a handle adapted tobe manually actuated. Lever 40 includes a slot or notch 80 engageablewith `spring 38 and a heel or stop member S2 that engages the top of capor cover 36, when the cover is closed and locked in position.

Spring 38 is in the form of an elongated irregularly shaped resilientrod whose ends 84 are rotatably supported by a pair of spring retainingchannels 36 secured to opposite sides of funnel 56 adjacent the basethereof at diametrically opposed points. Spring 38 includes a pair ofarcuate sections S3 that straddle opposite sides of funnel 56, ahorizontal cross bar 92 and a pair of straight portions which extendbetween the adjacent ends of the cross bar and the arcuate portions.

When the cover is locked in a closed position, the cross bar 92 ofspring 38 engages the notch S0 of leve', 40 and biases lever 40 in acounterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, about pivot pin 76 sothat stop member 82 is biased against the outer surface of cover 36. Theforces imparted to cover 36 by spring 38 acting upon the cover throughboth the stop member S2 and the pivot pin 76 forces gasket 64 againstthe edge of funnel 66 so that the gasket is distorted to completely sealthe edge of the funnel. Slots 79 permit movement of the cover in adirection normal to the edge of the funnel whereby the cover is selfaligning upon application thereto of the sealing force.

In order to open cover 36, spring 40 is rotated in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in FIG. 3, until the spring l38 becomes unstressedso that it can be pivoted away from the notch to its inoperativeposition, as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 3, wherein the upperportion of the spring rests against the upper panel of the sandbox. Theinitial rotation of the lever 40 disengages stop member 82 from cover 36and also increases the stress in spring 38 until the line of actionpasses over the pivot pin whereupon the spring rotates the lever untilthe spring reaches its unstressed position. After the spring has beendisengaged from lever 40, cover 36 is pivoted away from engagement withfunnel 56 to its open position, indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 3.In such position, the cover, along with lever 40, depends downwardly andare spaced from the till opening of funnel 56 so as not to interferewith filling the sandbox with sand.

To close the cover, the cover is manually rotated from its open positionto its closed position. Then, lever 4l), if it has already not beenpositioned, is pivoted to a position where it can receive the cross bar92 of spring 38. Thereupon, lever 40 is pivoted in a counterclockwisedirection. The initial rotation of lever 4l) stresses the spring. Whenthe line of force acting on the lever crosses over, the spring causesthe lever to snap down into engagement with the cover whereupon thespring effects the necessary seal between the gasket and funnel andlocks the cover in place.

It will be thus seen that the invention is easy to operate and the partscan be readily cleaned to prevent sand from interfering with operationthereof. Moreover, the cover is permanently attached to the sandbox andcannot be accidentally removed or lost.

While only a single embodiment has been shownit will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that changes can be made in the details andarrangement of parts without departing from the scope of the inventionas defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In sanding apparatus for sanding a -rail under a wheel of a railwayvehicle, the combination of: a sandbox adapted to be mounted on therailway vehicle and having a ll opening bounded by an annular edge; acover hinged to said sandbox, said cover being movable between a closedposition covering said ll opening and an open position allowing said tobe placed in said sandbox, said cover having a circular body and a pairof concentric, axially-extending anges defining therebetween an annulargroove which opens towards said edge; an' annular gasket seated in saidgroove and being engageable with said edge when said cover is closed toexclude from the sandbox external weather elements such as rain, snowand the like; a cover retaining spring pivoted on said sandbox; and athrowover lever pivotally mounted on said cover and being engageablewith said spring for locking said cover in said closed position andapplying to .Said gasket via said @ver a sealing force- 2. Sandingapparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sandbox comprises afunnel which terminates in said annular edge, and said cover and saidcover retaining spring are mounted on said funnel.

3. In sanding apparatus for sanding a rail under a wheel of a railwayvehicle, the combination of: a sandbox adapted to be mounted on therailway vehicle and having a funnel provided with a ll opening boundedby a ilat annular circular edge; a cover hinged to said funnel forpivotal movement about a iirst axis between closed and open positions,said cover having an annular circular groove which opens towards saidedge; an annular sealing gasket in said groove engageable with said edgefor sealing said i'lll opening when said cover is closed; a throwoverlever pivotally mounted on said cover for movement about a second axisparallel to said first axis between operative and inoperative positions;and a cover retaining spring pivotally mounted on said funnel formovement about a third axis parallel to said first and second axes, saidspring being normally unstressed but engageable with said lever so thatwhen said lever is in operative position, said spring locks said coverand applies a sealing force to said gasket.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said first axis islocated adjacent peripheral portions of said edge and said cover, saidsecond axis is located substantially along a center line of said cover,and said third axis is located at the base of said funnel.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein said funnel is inclinedupwardly and said rst axis is located -adjacent lower portions, so thatsaid cover extends downwardly when in said open position.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 wherein said lever comprises ahandle adapted to be manually actuated, a notch engageable with saidspring, and a stop member engageable with said cover when said lever isin said operative position.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said spring comprises anelongated resilient member that extends upwardly along opposite sides ofsaid funnel and across the top of said cover, when said spring is in itsstressed position, and through said notch.

8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 7 wherein said cover is hinged tosaid funnel by means including a bracket secured to said funnel andhaving slot means therein, and a pin secured to said cover and extendinginto said slot means whereby said first axis is movable along said slotmeans.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,588,862 6/26Walker. 1,671,287 5/28 Hoeser et al. 220-57 2,162,446 6/ 39 Scott 220-572,394,358 2/ 46 Blomberg 291-38 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

LEO QUACKENBUSH, Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 168,960 February 9 1965 Albert G. Dean et al,

It is hereby Certified that error appears in the above numbered patentrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read ascorrected below Column 3, line 49, for "said", first occurrence, readSand Signed and Sealed this 27th day of July 1965.

` (SEAL) Attest:

I ERNEST W. SWIDER 4 EDWARD J. BRENNER .2A i testing OfficerCommissioner of Patents

1. IN SANDING APPARATUS FOR SANDING A RAIL UNDER A WHEEL OF A RAILWAYVEHICLE, THE COMBINATION OF: A SANDBOX ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON THERAILWAY VEHICLE AND HAVING A FILL OPENING BOUNDED BY AN ANNULAR EDGE; ACOVER HINGED TO SAID SANDBOX, SAID COVER BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN A CLOSEDPOSITION COVERING SAID FILL OPENING AND AN OPEN POSITION ALLOWING SAIDTO BE PLACED IN SAID SANDBOX, SAID COVER HAVING A CIRCULAR BODY AND APAIR OF CONCENTRIC, AXIALLY-EXTENDING FLANGES DEFINING THEREBE TWEEN ANANNULAR GROOVE WHICH OPENS TOWARDS SAID EDGE: AN ANNULAR GASKET SEATEDIN SAID GROOVE AND BEING ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID EDGE WHEN SAID COVER ISCLOSED TO EXCLUDE FROM THE SANDBOX EXTERNAL WEATHER ELEMENTS SUCH ASRAIN, SNOW AND THE LIKE; A COVER RETAINING SPRING PIVOTED ON SAIDSANDBOX; AND A THROWOVER LEVER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID COVER AND BEINGENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SPRING FOR LOCKING SAID COVER IN SAID CLOSEDPOSTION AND APPLYING TO SAID GASKET VIA AND COAVER A SEALING FORCE.